CoreWeave and Nebius Have Outperformed Every "Magnificent Seven" Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock This Year. Can It Last?

The "Magnificent Seven" cohort of stocks hasn't had the greatest run in 2026. These are the year-to-date stock performances for each company:

1. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA): -5%
2. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): -6%
3. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL): -3%
4. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT): -23%
5. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN): -8%
6. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META): -13%
7. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA): -23%

Not a single one of those stocks is in the black for the year, making it a fairly low bar to clear when the only expectation is to break even. However, looking at companies that operate in the same industry as these seven is a more interesting comparison. Any artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, in particular, that are outperforming this group catch my eye, as the market has viewed companies in this space through a negative lens.

Two that have outperformed the Magnificent Seven by a wide margin and have produced solid returns so far in 2026 are Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) and CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV). These two are up over 30% and 15%, respectively, for the year and are directly competing against three of the companies in the Magnificent Seven. But can they keep this up? Let's take a look.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nebius and CoreWeave are offering cloud computing services

Both Nebius and CoreWeave are involved in cloud computing. These two are considered neocloud companies, which indicates their focus on graphics processing units (GPUs) and other computing units that specialize their product for AI cloud computing, rather than just general cloud computing, which can be used for data storage, hosting websites, and other tasks that don't require extreme computing power.

This places them in direct competition with Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon, as each is a cloud computing provider that offers clients both general cloud computing and AI-focused options.

However, in a twist, Microsoft is also a major client of both Nebius and CoreWeave. This may seem odd, but it also makes sense. For CoreWeave and Nebius to be attractive to clients, they must offer the most cutting-edge computing units available. Nebius even has a deal with Nvidia that grants it access to the newest hardware before anyone else.

This also cuts both ways, as these computing units are often outdated by a year or two after installation. Microsoft doesn't want to take on this deprecation risk, so it's more than happy to sign deals with Nebius and CoreWeave to rent its computing capacity for workloads that its clients have.

Meta Platforms is another major client of Nebius and CoreWeave from the Magnificent Seven and has signed huge deals with each of them to secure AI computing capacity, likely for the same reason as Microsoft. With high demand for cutting-edge AI computing power, both are slated to thrive over the next few years, but are they smart investments?

There's huge growth ahead for each

Wall Street analysts have high expectations for each of these stocks over the next few years. This year, they expect Nebius to increase its revenue by an average of 523%, with next year's growth rate coming in lower but still at a breaktaking 194% increase. CoreWeave's expectations aren't as high, but the average analyst still expects 142% growth this year and 86% next year.

Those growth rates showcase the rising demand for AI computing power, and as long as AI spending maintains its trajectory, CoreWeave and Nebius will experience incredible growth. However, they are funding their growth at the expense of profits.

Both CoreWeave and Nebius are spending every dollar they can get their hands on to build out their AI infrastructure masterplan. This isn't cheap, and it's critical to grab market share early so that later they can operate on a more standard cloud-computing model, where growth is steady, and profits are high. Both companies need the AI race to continue for a few more years to reach a point where they are viable companies, so that's a risk investors must keep an eye on.

For now, I'd expect these stocks to continue rising. If the market turns on them and demands profits now, then they could fall and underperform the Magnificent Seven. The long-term risk level is far higher than investing in the Magnificent Seven stocks, but so is the return potential. If you can balance these two aspects, then Nebius and CoreWeave could be great stock picks.

Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nebius Group, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.